Hilltop

My title is shorthand for Mount Cithaeron, sacred to Dionysus, to whose peaks The Bacchae retreated for their revels in Euripides’ drama of the same name. I recall first reading W.F. Otto’s Dionysus: Myth and Cult for a Roman Art paper on Pompeii’s Villa of Mysteries and warm-heartedly so upon recalling my naïve remark to a housemate: “You know, there must be people out there somewhere who know all about the myths and rituals of ancient peoples. That must be fascinating for them.” Projection has heuristic value! Carl Kerenyi, Jung’s collaborator and my Zurich analyst, C.A. Meier’s dear friend, sees Dionysus as the Archetype of Indestructible Life.